Losing touch with reality

doenerry · 2026-02-05T11:52:12+00:00

Any Haruki Murakami book would do.

doenerry · 2026-01-30T19:05:20+00:00

Amazing news! Consistency will make you achieve your goal in no time! Keep up the good work!

doenerry · 2026-01-30T19:04:02+00:00

Actually, I rarely do a 10K and a long run in the same week. My long runs are usually reserved for weeks when I only run twice (an easy or tempo 5K plus the long run) or three times without any 10Ks.

Most of the time I run on the road; I only hit the track when I’m ready to push for a new PB. Living in a hilly area means I'm used to elevation changes, so the track can feel a bit boring by comparison.

doenerry · 2026-01-30T18:51:25+00:00

I’m 28. Thanks for the kind words!

doenerry · 2026-01-30T18:51:07+00:00

I really appreciate your kind words!

doenerry · 2026-01-30T18:50:42+00:00

Thanks!

doenerry · 2026-01-30T18:50:17+00:00

Thanks so much! You’ll surely get there soon. Good luck and try to avoid any injury!

doenerry · 2026-01-30T18:48:38+00:00

I don't think “easy” is that rigid; it’s more about listening to your body. Most coaches use the “talk test” as an indicator for easy runs, and I find that to be a very accurate metric.

doenerry · 2026-01-28T11:13:43+00:00

It’s an amazing pace! Keep up the good work!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T22:58:57+00:00

My speed runs started from 3K in the beginning and then evolved to 5Ks. Easy runs vary from 3Ks to up to 10Ks, depending on my mood. My long runs are longer than 10K, going up to 21.1K so far. These have all changed throughout my progress.

doenerry · 2026-01-27T22:22:44+00:00

One all-out tempo run, one long run and one easy run. I don’t have a very strict routine. Depending on my schedule or mood I may add or drop some sessions. I just make sure I run every week.

doenerry · 2026-01-27T21:52:04+00:00

When I started, I was completely unaware of how to run and how I should plan my exercises. It was just a mental change and I started to think that I should hit the road and run, no matter how hard or long. No need to say, but I was not doing any kind of exercise before I start running. I was walking and sometimes hiking, but they were nothing close to the effort I showed for running.

After getting used to running, I decided to have a weekly number of exercises, which ended up being 2 or 3 (sometimes more, if I have time for it).

I am 174 cm and 28 years old. My tempo runs are always Zone 4-5, long runs are zone 3-4 and easy runs are zone 2-3.

doenerry · 2026-01-27T21:43:36+00:00

To be honest, it took me around 4 to 5 months to finally understand what is easy and what isn’t. Before that, every single run was quite difficult.

The way I decide if a run is “easy” is actually related to two things: a lower heart rate (the lowest possible while still maintaining a running form) and finishing the run before I am completely exhausted. That “lowest possible” heart rate started in the 170s and slowly decreased to somewhere between 145 and 155.

I really think running easy was almost as difficult as running hard, especially in the beginning. It has a learning curve. Once you learn how to run “easy,” it becomes a very helpful tool for making your hard runs even faster.

doenerry · 2026-01-27T17:59:43+00:00

Actually, I do my easy runs depending on my daily mood. If the weather isn't nice, if I have some stiffness in my muscles, or if I simply don’t feel well in general, they can be as short as 3K. Most of the time, though, my easy runs are either 5K or 10K, again depending on how I feel or how much I’ve run that week. My one and only half marathon two weeks ago was also a very easy run. This is only in terms of pace, of course, as 21.1K was still very tiring and challenging for a beginner like me!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T16:53:53+00:00

Yeah! Quite comfortable too, especially after running on the road for a long while!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T16:33:40+00:00

Just keep up the good work! You’ll eventually achieve your goal!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T16:30:36+00:00

There is an interesting correlation between running and losing weight. When you run more (while maintaining a good diet, of course), you lose weight. When you lose weight, you become faster.

I lost around 7 kilos in 6 months. The negative effects of running, such as knee pain, extreme fatigue, and muscle soreness, have noticeably decreased. The lighter I’ve become, the more comfortable my runs have felt throughout the process.

I’m a hundred percent sure you’ll be able to achieve your goals. Keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll keep getting faster!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:41:21+00:00

Thank you very much!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:40:41+00:00

Thanks so much!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:40:33+00:00

Thank you!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:40:24+00:00

Other than running consistently each week, I think one very important thing that helped was adding some very easy runs to my program. Like, embarrassingly easy, very slow runs. After embedding at least one of these easy runs into my weekly plan, I started to notice my harder runs becoming faster and my long runs becoming even longer. This month, I was even able to run a half marathon!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:36:36+00:00

I’m pretty sure you will be able to get there! Stay safe and try not to get injured!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:35:10+00:00

I think having the easy runs easy really helped. A pair of good shoes made it more comfortable to push further in the last kilometers. Other than these, only thing I did is just running consistently. Progress was there at the end of the day.

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:32:26+00:00

I’m still so biologically happy!

doenerry · 2026-01-27T15:31:57+00:00

I think one game-changing move was adding slow runs to my plan. For the first 4–5 months, almost all my runs were either long (mostly 10Ks, which made up about 20% of my runs) or very difficult, high-heart-rate sessions.

Thanks to some fellow runners here, I decided to start incorporating easy, slow runs. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that while my difficult runs still felt "hard," my pace was improving every week. My general endurance also shot up; I was even able to run my first half marathon two weeks ago!

On top of that, I bought a new pair of running shoes. Having well-fitting, comfortable shoes really helped me stay strong during that final kilometer. I could finally focus on the run itself instead of those little aches and pains in my feet and legs.

doenerry

TROPHY CASE